The Demon King is back, leading adorable kids on an adventure around the world!

The valley remained quiet for three days after that day.

The Fang family's gate has been repaired. The new wooden door is thicker than the original one, and the door frame has been reinforced with wooden wedges.

Every morning when Niannian goes to wash her face by the well, she passes by that door, pushes it to make sure it's closed tightly, and then goes to wash up.

No one from the Tianyuan Sect appeared again. Occasionally, moving shadows could be seen in the distance on the low slopes outside the valley, but they all stopped at the edge and did not approach the Fang family's territory.

The old man from the Fang family said that it was scouts from the Tianyuan Sect keeping watch. They hadn't left; they were just waiting.

On the morning of the fourth day, an old man dressed in old cloth walked in from outside the valley. He was an informant for the Fang family, responsible for gathering information.

He walked up to the old man from the Fang family, lowered his voice and said a few words. After listening, the old man remained silent for a while, then turned around and went into the courtyard to find Luo Tian.

"In a valley thirty miles to the north, there has been some activity underground these past two days. A crack has appeared in the mountain, and some people have seen light shining through the crack."

The old man said, "Several groups of people have already gone there; it should be a secret realm."

After listening, Luo Tian stood in the courtyard without moving, as if he was pondering something.

Niannian came out of the house and slowed down when she heard the words "secret realm," but she didn't say anything.

Luo Tian glanced at her: "You want to go?"

Niannian nodded, and Luo Tian glanced at Xiaoxiao and Qiqi standing behind Niannian: "Then let's go together."

The elder from the Fang family provided some basic information:

The crack wasn't deep, and the leakage of spiritual energy wasn't severe, suggesting that the secret realm wasn't large, but it might have existed for a long time, only recently loosening to the point where people could enter.

The first group of cultivators who went in haven't come out yet, and people outside are still rushing over there one after another.

Luo Tian didn't go with them. He let Nian Nian lead the team, while Xiao Jin and Luo Nannan stayed behind but didn't participate.

Niannian stood at the gate of the courtyard and counted all the people she was going to bring: Xiaoxiao, Qiqi, Qianqian, Xiaojin, Luo Nannan, and herself, making a total of six people.

She stood at the doorway and counted twice to make sure no one was missing, then waved and said, "Let's go."

As she turned around, she glanced back at Luo Tian and asked, "Dad, aren't you going?"

Luo Tian stood beside the well in the courtyard, cracking open a walnut he had just taken out of his storage ring.

He broke the shell in half, squeezed out the kernel, put it in his mouth and chewed it: "I'll wait for you outside."

Niannian didn't ask any more questions; she turned and led the group away.

Xiao Xiao walked beside Niannian, glancing back at the Fang family's courtyard wall behind her before turning back again.

Qiqi ran in the lead, then stopped after a few steps to wait for the people behind her.

Qianqian walked at a moderate pace, her hem brushing against the low grass by the roadside.

Thirty li is not far; it took a little over an hour to get there.

There were already more than a dozen people gathered at the entrance to the valley. They were dressed in all sorts of clothes and covered in about the same amount of dust.

Some people were talking in hushed tones, while others stood on higher ground looking towards the crack.

Niannian led the people through the edge of the crowd, and no one stopped them.

The crack was located at the narrowest point of the valley floor, with jagged edges, indicating that it had been recently opened up by some force from below. The rocks around the crack were dark in color, as if they had been scorched by high heat.

The crack was wide enough for a person to pass through sideways. The light shining through it was a pale blue, not dazzling, like light from the depths of the ocean that had been compressed and shone through a thin layer of ice, hazy and indistinct, making it impossible to see what lay deep inside.

Niannian stood in front of the crack and peeked inside. When the light shone on her face, it made the edges of her eyelashes appear to be coated with a very faint blue.

She stood there for a while, then pulled back and said, "It's quite deep inside; I can't see the bottom."

Xiao Jin also came over to take a look: "It's quite bright."

Niannian peeked in again and said, "Let's go then, the sooner we go in, the sooner we'll come out."

She was the first to squeeze into the crevice, followed by Xiao Xiao, then Qi Qi and Qian Qian, with Xiao Jin and Luo Nannan at the very end.

Behind the crack was a short passage. After walking for about the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, the passage began to widen, the blue light grew brighter, and the ground changed from gravel to a smooth rock surface with polished edges.

At the end of the passage was a small space, like the remnants of some circular hall.

There are blurry murals on the stone walls of the hall, some of which have peeled off, but some outlines can still be seen.

There are human-shaped patterns, flying mythical beasts, and hands pointing upwards with magical implements.

Niannian stood in the center of the hall and looked around.

There is a passageway in each of the four directions of the hall, and the entrances of each passageway are the same shape, so it is not obvious which one is the main path.

She glanced back at Xiaoxiao: "Which way?"

Xiao Xiao walked to the entrance of each passageway, stood down, touched the dust on the ground, and stood up to say:

"The gray line on the left is lighter in thickness and whitish in color. Someone walked on it recently, so it must have been cleaned not long ago."

Niannian walked to the left-hand passageway, squatted down, looked at the accumulated dust on the ground, and rubbed her fingertips together.

"It was indeed stepped on recently." She stood up and walked into the left passage.

This passage was longer than the entrance section. After walking for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, light appeared ahead.

It wasn't blue light; it was normal yellowish-white light, like a torch or a ball of light burning.

After exiting the passage, you enter a larger space with a higher dome. The entire ground edge is surrounded by concentric steps leading down to a sunken area, resembling a small plaza.

In the center of the square, there was a protruding stone platform, but there was nothing on it.

But there were subtle fluctuations of spiritual energy in the surrounding air, as if something had just been taken away.

The lingering warmth had not completely dissipated and was slowly spreading outwards, gradually diluting along the contours of the steps.

"Someone got here first." Xiao Xiao stood on the top of the steps and glanced down. "The things have already been taken."

Niannian stood beside her, not in a hurry to go down. She looked in the direction of the stone platform, where there was a thin layer of dust on the edge.

There was a blurry mark on it, and it was impossible to tell what it was, only its general shape.

It has a rectangular outline, like something was placed on it and then someone took it away.

She watched for a while, then walked down the steps, all the way to the stone platform, reached out and pressed her hand on the surface, then looked down at the dust in her palm.

She withdrew her hand and patted it off, the dust settling at her feet: "We were too late."

A faint sound came from the surrounding air, as if it came from the depths of some passage, and was refracted by several walls before reaching this place. The sound had become very weak, as if someone was talking through a very thick door.

Niannian raised her head, glanced in the direction from which the sound came, and then looked down at the dust on the ground.

Several scattered footprints extended down the steps on the dusty surface and then turned into a side passage.

A small patch of dust at the corner was rubbed off, revealing the dark rock underneath.

There were signs that something had been moved, as if someone had just pushed aside something blocking the way.

Niannian straightened up and walked in that direction, neither running nor slowing down.